I quit

Sad news. I handed my resignation to my worship team. I found it increasingly difficult to do a good job with the way things are run in our church. For a long time I did it in the hope that my playing and singing was still a blessing to someone, and with the desire to worship God in all I did, but I have just got burnt out by the whole experience.

Anyone else got burnt out in worship playing or leading? Any thoughts on what happens next?

Unfortunately, YES, I am in the excact same boat as you. I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. The only thing I can offer you, and myself, that is, is to trust in Him and let Him take care of it. I know fully that you are aware of this, but I thought I'd say it anyway.

I moved Churches as my youngest two children(15year olds) were falling through the cracks.

In the new church I was asked to help with updating the worship. I donnated a PA and trained a band of adults and youngsters. However, after a year it became obvious that the elderly choir felt threatened and too many members didn't want a change.

I was also a Church Steward and this conflicted with playing in services. I got complaints as I put away my guitar in the last song of a service, yet this was because I was also door steward and had to get to the other side of the church to do that job.

My children who had chosen that church now wanted to go to the church I had originally suggested. So I was relived to go.

Before joining our present church I was heading up the worship team in a community church, as well as doing a lot of other things. It was a great period where I was happy and at peace musically and in worship. We felt God call us to move, and it's been a painful roller coaster ever since. I've little confidence now in my ability to make music or draw others along, really, and wish in many ways that, after being excluded from the worship team in the new church, I'd never really gone back.

It's pretty much always people that burn us out, rather than workload. We can bear up under huge loads, right up until someone kicks our feet away.

What happens next? What do you *want* to do? If you can't continue in good relationship with the present church, make sure you forgive people & move on. If you CAN continue then do so, but give yourself time for healing and watch your heart!

It's not workload, per se, although I had some suggestions for reducing workload that were ignored. It is more the feeling that whatever you do, you cannot succeed. Then you wonder if anything you do was even worth doing.

I think church politics is the most enervating and discouraging reason for burnout. You know, gossip, when someone does not get his or her way and starts to forment dissension behind your back. The worst, and not the way christians should treat each other.

I'm not a 'people person', and tend to withdraw when interpersonal conflict rears its ugly head...